Face it, Arizona wouldn’t have had it any other way.

The Diamondbacks squeezed into the playoffs, claiming the final invitation to the post-season despite a season-ending stumble. They lost the final four games, including being swept by Houston in the regular-season-ending three game series in which the D-backs were the host team.

Now look at them.

They may have finished the regular season with a so-so 84-78 record, but they never flinched at the challenge of taking the field in the post-season, and are now preparing for the second World Series appearance in franchise history..

They rallied to knock off Philadelphia in the NLCS, and now the Diamondbacks are getting ready to take on the Texas Rangers in Game 1 of the World Series — the Diamondbacks second World Series appearance. And the Rangers, like the Phillies, were a wild-card addition to the post-season.

The prior Wild-Card World Series both went seven games. The Los Angeles Angels knocked off San Francisico in 2002 and in 2014, Bruce Boch’s Giansts defeated Kansas City for what was the Giants third title in five years.

This year, the Rangers and the Diamondbacks are both two years removed from last-place finishes and 100-loss seasons. Arizona is a No. 6 seed and Texas a No. 5.

Only two teams advanced to the World Series with fewer than Arizona’s 84 wins — St. Louis (83 wins in 2006) and the New York Mets (82-80 in 1973).

That may not be eye-opening, but their post-season efforts can’t be ignored. They are, afterall, the two teams that will be on the field when Game 1 of the 2023 World Series kicks off on Friday night.